valentines

Ryland always knew you were one of the brightest, so, if there’s any teen stuck on this ship with him he’s not surprised it’s you [as much as it kills him].

And the two of you? Closer than most. He can still picture you clearly in his mind from before the launch, either bouncing around the classroom with the younger kids or practically falling asleep on the desk from your own schooling, and even now it’s not so different. Especially considering how you were practically vibrating around him right now.

He can’t blame you, considering now all there is to do now is wait to arrive at Erid. The two of you were watching rocky sleep right now - Ryland leant against his enclosure ball as you laid on the floor staring up at the roof. He could be working probably, finishing whatevers left on the laptop sitting on his knees, but he was much more interested in entertaining you.

“Was I different before.. everything?” You ask bluntly, heels pattering against the cold floor, full of energy. “Please tell me I wasn't, like.. really annoying or something.”

And Ryland laughed, really laughed. You scoff, sitting up with a huff. “I’m serious!”

“No, kid, you weren’t annoying.” He replies with a final chuckle. “Annoyingly bright, maybe. The kids would just love it when you corrected me.”

“Hey, I remember that! You’d mess up formulas aaaalll the time.” 

“That was on purpose, to see if the class would pick up on it.”

“…Sure.”

You started giggling before Ryland whipped his head around at you with that glare. “It's true!” He said, exasperated.

“I dunno. Maybe sixth grade science is just that hard for you.” You smile innocently, and just before he goes to close the laptop you splutter out; “Okay! Just kidding, joking!”

“That’s what I thought.” He hummed triumphantly, leaning back. “You know, I remember a lot about you. A couple really interesting things.” And, something in his tone tells you he's up to something.

“..You were stalking me?” You blink with a head tilt that makes him snort. “What?- No, never. You know that.

“Do I?” You whisper, looking up to catch his gaze. “Another joke! I’m just funny like that.” You slowly lean to roll over on your stomach, head laying on your arms. “But seriously. What?”

“Somthing that’d shut you up for once.” He said idly, shifting your head to lay on his leg instead of the metal flooring. “It was very entertaining.” 

“I think you’re bluffing, ‘cause, it takes a lot to shut me up.” You emphasize with a flick to his arm. “We know this.“

“Right.” Ryland scoffed. “The nerve on you..” He emphasised with a jab to your upper back. 

Usually, the common reaction from you is rolling away, or swatting him back, but instead? A giggle pushes itself up and out, and you just barely lean away. Interesting.

“..Huh. You’re quiet.” He states after a beat.

“..What?”

“I mean, usually by now you’re telling me ‘no, no, stop’. Right?”

“No to what?”

“To tickling you, obviously.”

“What?” You splutter, immediately turning to look at him. You don’t think you’ve ever felt your face heat up this fast. “When- When have I- No??”

“Oh, no?” He grins, leaning down. “I remember it very well, don’t you? Maybe we can jog your memory, kiddo.”

Before you can scramble upright, his hand pushes itself down to scribble across the backs of your side and you’re so gone.

“Theeere we go. Come on, giggles, don’t you remember?” He asks, tone thick and all teasing.

And, then; yeah, you remember - being his intern for however many years didn’t come torment-free after all. It’s small, barely flashes, but it doesn’t fluster you any less.

“Seheriously?” You whine, “I’m too ohold for thihis! Ryland!” You can’t help but squirm slightly, mostly curling up on him. You seriously regret changing your position, it was too hard to fight back like this! ..But, also, maybe you don't mind too much? The line was blurry, okay?

“No, you're too ticklish for this.” He corrects in that stupid smug tone he just loves to flaunt. “Never too old for it. And, besides, if anyone’s too old for it, it's definitely not you. You're basically a baby! ..Plus, as you age your skin actually loses sensitivity, and—“

“Grace! Shuhut uhuhup!” You cry out, shoving him wherever you could get too. You end up hitting him weakly in the mid torso, causing him to pause.

“Shut up? Shut up? Ohoh, you’re really getting it now.” His free hand slides the laptop off his lap and onto the floor as he looks at you properly now. You slowly sit up when you have the chance too, smiling nervously. 

“Hey, hey, wait— we’re talking right?” You get out, soft anticipatory giggles leaving your lips as you inch away from him.

“Talking? Yeah.” He shrugs nonchalantly, “We’re also laughing and squealing, that too.” His hands fly forward to get ahold of you, pulling you back. 

You’re a fighter, always and forever, so obviously you don’t go down without proving it. 

“Gehehet off!” You kick your feet out, hands trying [and failing] to push his hands off. Seemingly untroubled, his fingers find that perfect spot on your hips and squeeze.

You fall back against the floor with a hiccup, giggling rapidly. One arm reaches to fall over your face, the other holding onto one of his wrists. Everytime you try to roll over, he simply holds you in place, and this feels so familiar but you can’t think hard enough to remember where.

“In classes, mostly.” Ryland states, like he could read your mind. “Not like this, obviously, because.. Well, you’d never live it down. The class loved you, but they're brutal.” He chuckled, “If i’m remembering correctly, you had a spot riiigghhhtt….” One of his hands reaches up to scribble his blunt nails quickly to the side of your neck, just short of tasering. “-Here.”

You almost snort, scrunching your shoulders up and shaking your head. You can practically hear the smile in his voice, as that hand trails down to rest on the side of your stomach. 

His other hand stayed right on your hip as he spoke, still relentless. “You’d bring your homework in sometimes when you didn’t get enough time to finish it. You worked hard, y’know, too hard sometimes. Whenever the kids couldn’t convince you to take a break, I seemed to. Any guesses to how?”

“Yohou- fuck- yohou’re so ehevil,” You groan, head leaning back. “That’s.. sohoho stupid.”

“It worked. And you smiled. Just like you’re doing now. So, is it that stupid, really?” Before you can answer and tell him 100% yes, his hand spiders up your tummy and you fold immediately.

“Ohohokay! It’s nohohot! Ihihits fine, Ryland, plehehease!” 

“Exaaactly, see? You got there.” He speaks with mock praise, hands both settling at your sides. “You act like you hate it, I know that much. But, really, it’s not so bad, is it? I’d go as far to say you like it.”

“You’re delusional.” You scoff.

“Am I? Or am I right, and you dont feel like admitting it?” One hand reaches up, slowly peeling your arm away from your face. Slow enough to resist if you wanted to, but you don’t. He would’ve cooed if he didn’t know you’d probably take drastic measures over it. But, how could he not atleast have the thought too?

“..It can't be both?“ You barely mumble. He simply smiles, leaning down. “I knew it. Oh, look at you.” He clicks his tongue, “My handiwork? Good. Look at that smmiilllee.” He grinned, and, it was too soft for you to be truely mad with. Obviously, you try anyways though.

“I’ll-..” You trail off, blinking before rolling your eyes. “Just, you-.. Fuck off, Grace.” ..Which, yeah, wasn’t very threatening considering the blush on your face.

“Oohhh, no words? None?” He tutts, “And, another thing— language.”

“Oh my god.” You groan, turning your head away.

"In front of a scientist? That's rough, Truely.” He looks down at you. “You know, I wouldn’t if I were you. In this position?” His hand on your side slowly digs in, and you bark out a laugh and squirm the other way. Asshole.

“Ryland!” You yell, trying to will something resembling anger into your tone. Not working out for you.

“Fiiiine,” He sighs dramatically, fingers eventually stilling. You don’t get up immediately, instead curling up onto your side.

“Worst previous boss ever. Tried to kill me, multiple times apparently.” You grumble under your breath.

“Oh, come on.” Ryland huffs a small laugh, reaching a hand near yours to help you up. “Look alive, kid. Rocky should be awake soon.”

—

“Rocky!” I shout through the house, standing still for a moment, listening for clunky scuttling, or a chirp of acknowledgement. Nothing.

I groan, cupping my hands around my mouth, calling again. “Hey! Rock, where are you?!” The house in the biodome isn’t all that large, and Rocky supposedly has darn near supersonic hearing. So either he’s asleep, or he’s ignoring me.

I yawn, sleep and fatigue pulling heavily on my eyes. I had spent the entire day finalizing my curriculum for my Eridian students’ next unit on ‘The Foundations of Earth Chemistry”, and I was absolutely exhausted.

Building curriculum is already hard enough without he curveball of teaching the material to creatures who don’t even know what or where Earth is. But my students are eager learners, so I don’t mind the hurdles. They give me purpose, I give them effort.

Point is, I’d had a long day, and I needed sleep. But God forbid I fall asleep without my Eridian watchdog… I’d get an earful about it the minute I wake up. “Rocky! Come on, bud, where are- oof-!”

I stumble into the small living room, nearly losing my balance as I trip over a very familiar road block.

“Rocky! Jeez- what’re you doing in the middle of the floor-? Didn’t you hear me calling you?” I ask, plopping down on the edge of the couch.

“Yes. Ignore you.”

Oh good, so he just tunes me out. Awesome.

“Why? What if it were urgent?” I throw my hands up in exasperation.

“Not urgent. You would talk faster if urgent”

Well he’s got me there. I do become pretty frantic under pressure, which he’d know better than most.

As I look down at Rocky, I see that he’s got his laptop open.

“Whatcha readin’ there?”

I crane my me k down to see that he’s clicking through what looks to be a PDF document about… clouds-? Weather, maybe?

“Rocky do research on clouds and atmosphere on earth.”

I tilt my head. “why? Sudden interest in meteorology?” I chuckle

“Study clouds and atmosphere in order to improve biodome. More weather, even rain.” He turns around to face me.

I pause for a moment, confusion softening into appreciation. “You- want to improve the biodome by adding weather? That’s- that’s really sweet, Rocky, but that seems like a lot of extra trouble-“

“Give Grace weather to make Grace feel more at home.” Rocky shimmied in place, chirping proudly. I smiled softly, tears burning the corners of my eyes.

“Well thank you, Rocky, I really appreciate that.” I say, my voice much shakier than I expected. I reached a hand out, patting the top of his xenonite suit.

The Eridian have already been beyond accommodating for me since I arrived. The biodome alone is plenty, let alone having the privilege of teaching the little ones, or Pebbles, as I’ve come to call them. But now Rocky wants to go the extra mile and make sure everything is as true to home as possible? Maybe it’s the sleep deprivation, but I’ve never felt more appreciated in my life.

“Leaky. Why leaky, question?” Rocky asked, taking a step closer.

“Oh nothing, nothing. Just emotional. And exhausted. Humans tend to be a little more sensitive when we’re tired.”

“Then sleep.”

“I was planning on it! But you wouldn’t respond to me when I was calling you to come supervise!”

I threw my arms up as I spoke, using the opportunity to wipe my eyes.

“Apology. Apology. Go sleep now?”

“Yes. Let’s. I feel like I’m gonna pass out. We can chat all about earth meteorology tomorrow after class.” I say, hoisting myself up off the couch with a groan.

———

I folded my glasses, setting them on the neighboring pillow, lying back in bed. The room was peaceful, quiet, and cool. The artificial moonlight streaming in through the tall, hexagonal windows felt no less real or comforting than the real deal. Finally, sleep was within reach.

“Grace, question?”

I really have to change the volume on that translator one of these days.

“Yes, Rocky.” I mutter, eyes still closed.

“Rocky cannot see Grace from floor.”

“Then get on your chair.”

“Grace move chair into office. Office locked.”

I sigh loudly. He’s right. I moved his usual observation chair into my office earlier as an extra surface to stack my papers on. Drat.

“Well I’m sorry, buddy. You’re just gonna have to be on the floor tonight. I’m too tired to go get your chair right now.”

“Sad sad.” Rocky said with a disappointed trill

I did feel terrible. And he looked a little pathetic sitting there on the floor by the bed… oh what the heck.

“Okay. Come on Rocky. You can sit on the bed.” I concede, patting the quilt beside me.

“Happy! Happy!” Rocky immediately sprang up, scuttling in place before climbing a bit clumsily onto the bed, parking himself right beside my chest.

“Hello Grace.”

“Hi, bud. Are you gonna be quiet and let me sleep now?” I ask.

“Yes yes. Sleep now.” Rocky says, extending two arms across my middle as he settled in himself like a giant, stone cat. Normally I’d complain about Rocky’s weight on my body, but his arms were only about as heavy as a weighted blanket, and the insulating xenonite dulled the searing heat of Rocky’s body temperature into a comfortable warmth.

I felt, for all the world, like a swaddled baby. Finding myself once again drifting into desolately needed sleep.

Until again, I stirred. Although this time, for a moment, I didn’t know why. I had a lopsided smile on my face, but couldn’t figure out why.

“Hmph-“

I huff out softly, as I look down at Rocky, still stationed where I last saw hi- okay what IS that?!

I shake off the sleep fog, and focus. I feel a gentle pressure concentrated on my stomach. Looking down, I find the culprits. Rocky’s claws were… kneading me… like a cat.

I was only joking when I said he was acting like a cat. Why is he ‘baking biscuits’ on me?!

From what I could tell, Rocky didn’t seem to know he was doing it either. He looked distant. Entranced, even. Maybe he was lost in thought? Who knows.

“M-hmhmph-“

Another involuntary huff crawled from my throat. I had to be honest… it really tickled. Not enough to make me want to move or push, just enough to keep a stupid smile on my face.

It had been years since I’d felt any kind of physical contact from anything living- human or otherwise- so I figured that for my brain, this was filling some primitive void.

I took a deep breath, settling back down.

“Why Grace laugh, question?”

“GAH-! Rocky! You’re awake?!”

“Yes. Rocky no sleep when grace sleep. I observe. Why laugh, question?” He stills his hands on the blanket over me.

“Nothing! No reason. I was thinking about… something funny. I say with a shrug. My face heats up. I tend to get red in the face rather easily. Especially when I know I’m lying.

“What funny, question?” Rocky asks. My mouth hangs open as my brain stalls like a flooded engine.

“Lie.”

“Wgat..?”

“Lie. Why you laugh, question?”

“Well let me ask YOU something-“ I deflect. “What is this you’re doing with your claws? Why are you doing this?” I demonstrate by pressing my fingertips into the blanket a few times like he’d been doing.

Rocky seems annoyed that I ignored his question, but he humored me, at least.

“Idle movement. Keeps Eridian from falling asleep while observing..”

“Huh. I guess that mahahakes sense. Keeping muscles stimulated. Fair enough.” I chuckle as he begins to knead again for demonstration. Though this time, it’s a little more forceful - maybe because he’s not zoned out anymore. My head falls back on the pillow as a sleep riddled laugh tumbled from my mouth

“Ohohokay! Ok, I get it-!”

“Why laugh?”

“It tickles!” I push fruitlessly at Ricky’s heavy arms.

He pauses. “If tickle, why Grace not move? Or tell Rocky stop?”

I give him a puzzled look

“Grace say humans not like tickle, but Hrace not move. Grace like tickle, question?!

I shoot upright. “WHAT?! No! Don’t be ridiculous- I just- thought you were sleeping too- or lost in thought so I didn’t want to disturb you!” I stumble over myself w couple times, but in the end all the words come out in the right order.

“Hmmm. Grace know Rocky not sleep when Grace sleep. Lie.”

I scratch my head. “…Alright look- it’s been a while since I’ve felt touch- connection with life. It was nice, I guess.” I mutter.

Rocky hums quietly in his xenonite suit, then falls silent. I fidget in the dark quiet of the room. It’s excruciating.

“We call it ‘baking biscuits’ back on earth. The whole… kneading thing.” I say. Rocky looks at me curiously. “It’s a cat thing. They do it to show affection, and signal that they feel secure. I used to have a cat named Copernicus that loveHAHaA-! WOAH- ROCKY!”

My body stiffened like a board as Rocky begins to press his claws into my midriff fervently. I curl in on myself, kicking beneath the cover.

“WhAHA-! What’re you doing-?! HahAha-“

“Rocky show Grace that Rocky feel safe and secure!” He says proudly

“I- hAHAA-! I’m so happy you feel thahat way, but you’re not a caHAHAT! Yohohou can just say that!”

“Mmm yes, but Grace need affection!” He cheers, turning the angle of his arms so that he could poke and knead more efficiently, mostly targeting my stomach, but sending the occasional hit to my ribs, chest, and even one risky shot to the collarbone.

I howl , sinking lower into the bed, the cover being discarded in the chaos. At some point, my tshirt had ridden up without my knowledge of it, to which Rocky so eloquently shouted, callling me a ‘squishy squishy gross human. I yanked down the hem of my shirt again, and again, batted at Rocky’s arms

“OKAY, eNOHOUGH-!” I cried. At this point I was just about at my limit - pushing and shoving at Rocky’s arms, and thrashing around like a fish.

“Rocky stop when Grace stop lying.”

“WHAHAT-? I HAVENT LIED!”

“Grace say Grace no like tickle. Lies.”

“YOU CANT BE SEHEHERIOUS-“ I cackle, both at the absurdity of the claim, at the constant poking of my stomach.

“Grace tell truth. I stop”

I weigh my options here. On one hand, it’s late, I’m still exhausted, and I really needed to get some sleep before class in the morning… but at the same time my pride is on the line here… some things are supposed to go with you to the grave - what, am I just supposed to give that up because an alien told me so?!

…

“FIHIHINE. FINE OKAY. OKAY YES. GRACE LIKE TICKLE. I’VE SAID IT. HA-HAHA! GET OFF!” I relent. Whatever future consequences letting that out brings me shall remain an issue for Future Ryland.

And as promised, Ricky stopped. Immediately. He sat back, trilling and chirping proudly. “Good, good! I stop now.”

My entire body goes limp. Every muscle I had been holding taught unraveled slowly until I was one with the bed - splayed out, panting - and I could only imagine the state of my hair.

“Grace breathing fast. Is okay, question?”

“Yes.” I huff out

A moment of silence passed with only the sound of breathing to count the seconds.

“Grace sleep now, question?”

“Yes… watch…” I nod slowly, closing my eyes exactly where I am.

I hear the melodic tones of Rocky’s voice, and the immense weight of him clumsily walking across the bed. I don’t open my eyes. I then hear a bit of fidgeting by the foot of the bed, followed by a rush of warmth over me.

Rocky had pulled the blanket up over me again, and returned to his post, this time keeping his claws to himself.

…

“You can… do what you were doing before. Now that I know what it is. I don’t d” I mutter after a long moment.

“Biscuits, question?”

I snort. “Yes, you can bake biscuits, bud. Go ahead.”

Rocky chirps, replacing his two front arms across my stomach, gently, slowly kneading, pulling himself back into a deep focus, and myself into a deep, smiley sleep.

“Gnight… Rocky…”

It had started off unintentionally, perhaps innocent even. It was a few songs to remind you of home, and the fun times that you’d all shared in the compound before the Hail Mary had taken off. 

Ryland, Rocky, and you always listened to music in the lab. Stratt had outdone herself in terms of how much media had been sent with the four of you. The catalogue went back as far as the 1860’s, and up until the very day that the ship had taken off. If you were to play through all of it, you would probably never hear the same song twice for the entire journey from Tauceti to Erid. If you combined that with Rocky’s ability to literally create notes that your and Ryland’s human ears couldn’t hear, then you truly had nearly endless possibilities. 

That morning, when you and Ryland had woken up, you were the first in the lab, so you were the one who got to pick the music for the day. By the time that Ryland climbed the ladder after you, the classic tunes of Johnny Cash filled his ears. 

He looked up at you with his brows raised. 

You held his stare across the stark white lab. “What?”

“Country music?” he asked, looking tired. 

You shrugged. You hadn’t even realized that you’d never played any songs in that genre before, and you couldn’t tell if Ryland was just confused or annoyed. Once you all had gotten into the habit of listening to stuff while you worked, the three of you established the rule that none of you could complain about what music was picked. You were a perfectly good spacemate, never saying anything, even when Ryland played all sorts of questionable things. You’d even let it slide when he’d played baby shark once when he was drunk, saying it was because his kids would make him listen to it ‘ironically.’ 

“It’s my turn for controls, is it not?” you said, arching a brow. 

“My students would’ve called this old people music,” he said with a chortle, almost in disbelief. 

“That's because we’re,” you gestured between the two of you, “old to them.”

He shrugged and moved out of the doorway and Rocky came rolling up after him. “No. Humans very young. Eridians grow old, humans are babies.” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Ryland shrugged him off, heading to his work station. “Hopefully, you have better music tastes than us to show for it.”

You narrowed your eyes, catching his not so subtle insult. “Ryland, are you complaining about my music choices?”  

He held one of his hands up in mock surrender, the other one still holding his coffee. “Of course not, I know the classroom rules,” he said, leaving you to continue fidgeting with your devices, but your mind was elsewhere now, a sneaky smile beginning to play on your lips. You had been working on a gadget, it was a special musical device that would allow you to press the buttons like a piano in order to make Eridian noises and communicate in their language. Since you were now bounding through the depths of space towards Erid instead of Earth, you figured it was probably best to start working on your communication skills, however, it seemed that perhaps the tool could wait a little while for you to try a different sort of experiment. 

Rocky rolled by you, heading for the station that was on your right side, and you took that moment to hiss at him. “Rock-” you whispered. 

Sensing that you needed him for something more urgent than usual, he rolled over quickly towards your side. “Friend whispering, why? Question?”

“I have a joke we can play on Ryland.”

“Tell Rocky. Rocky will determine if idea is good.”

You fondly rolled your eyes. Of course the engineer was going to want to inspect your plan first.  “Well, you know how our music rule works, right?”

Rocky’s carapace shifted up and down like he was nodding at you. “Yes. You are in control. Grace is not. Rocky does not understand why any of this is important so assume is human thing.” 

You clucked your tongue, forgetting that Rocky focused so much on what he was doing in the lab that he often zoned all other noise out. You supposed it made sense. Their language was basically composed of melodies and vibrations, so human music probably just sounded like weird overlapping conversations to him. “Right, so, if Ryland complains about the music then he’s in violation of the rule.” 

Rocky spoke softer, as if Ryland was suddenly listening in. “What happen if rule broken? Question?” 

You frowned, considering his words. “We actually didn’t decide.” You looked over at Ryland, who was now immersed in what he was doing. “I guess that means that I get to decide what sort of prize I want, right?”

“This makes sense to Rocky,” he agreed, tapping his foot on the floor. “But how does friend get Grace to break?”

At this, your brows furrowed. It would be difficult, but you were sure you could push his buttons far enough for this to work. “Even a teacher’s patience can only go so far, right?” 

Rocky rolled away slightly, even his computer voice sounding slightly shaky. “Friend is evil. Rocky see now why they put humans to sleep for journey.”

You brushed off his concerns with a short huff of air through your nose. “Relax, he’s not going to kill me.”

Rocky was already moving away, back towards his station, like he didn’t want to be infected by the energy in yours. “Rocky will watch. Rocky will see.” 

His words almost made you reconsider your plan, but then you looked over at Ryland peacefully putting the Taumoeba boxes away and decided you simply couldn’t allow him any peace. Later, you could blame it on the boredom of space, or how you had hit a wall with your language device, but for now all of your attention turned towards irritating your friend. 

You switched from Johnny Cash to Tim McGraw, another American country classic, and nothing that would throw Ryland off too much. You saw him bite his lip for a second as you made the switch, but he made no other movements, not even so much as an ill contented sigh. It was odd, how Ryland knew this was out of character for you, but he was still choosing not to comment on it. You gnawed on your lip, wondering how long it could truly take to irritate him. It was no doubt that he was the most patient one on the Hail Mary but his inaction was making you question how far he would go.

You pulled out a drawer in your station and grabbed a notebook and a pen. You flipped it open and scribbled at the top, “Ryland’s annoyance capacity, Test One.” You wrote about your first change in music and his barely visible reaction and then went back to sort of paying attention to your actual project. You needed to wait a little bit in order to up the ante. Ryland was patient, but he wasn’t an idiot. If you kept changing the song every five minutes, he would start to grow suspicious and then your experiment would be rendered null and void. 

You waited a solid ten minutes to walk back to the main computer in your setup, adjusting the music to that of Florida Georgia Line, a more modern country group with funny nods to their redneck roots but nothing too obscure. You picked one of their more popular songs to start with and cued up a few more before going back to your ‘work’. 

You quietly uncapped your blue pen and tucked your hair behind your ear. Ryland stopped his work for a moment when the song came on. You couldn’t see his face, but he went completely still, just staring at the wall in front of him. It took everything in you to push your laugh down, picturing him with his face screwed up in confusion. Then, as if the matter were settled, he went back to his work. You waited a minute to see if he would do anything else, but after another five more minutes, the boredom started to gnaw at you and you wanted to work on something. You wrote down his reactions in your notes, then turned towards Rocky, giving him one of your keys to test out. The Eridian piano would only prove to be useful if the Eridians could understand it so you ran everything by Rocky before it was implemented. You began to become so engaged in the work, that you almost didn’t notice Ryland calling your name. 

“What?” you said, breaking your intense gaze away from Rocky’s fidgeting with your other experiment and turned back towards your human subject. 

“I asked who made this song,” he said with a warm smile and a look in his eyes that felt almost too knowing.

“Oh,” you said, feeling the heat rush to your cheeks. You rolled towards your computer in order to have time to recover. “The music station says this is Florida Georgia Line.”

“Oh, okay,” Ryland said with a shrug. 

Ryland quickly turned back around, getting back to his work like he had never even asked the question in the first place. You couldn’t help but pester him a little more, just to see if you could get to him. “Is that all you wanted?”

“Yep!” he said cheerily, even popping the P emphatically. 

You spun around on your stool to widen your eyes at Rocky and he just shook his head at you. He was becoming more accustomed to human tendencies by the day, and you were pretty sure that you had just been given the disapproving stare of a parent without him having eyes. 

Still, you wouldn’t be deterred so easily. Ryland had to have a breaking point, you and Rocky did, so he had to have one too. You just needed to find it. You marked his question in your notebook as well as the time and then set to finding more impossibly silly country music in the database. 

You quickly switched to one of Luke Bryan’s earlier albums, moving further into the newer and more unhinged country songs. In your defense, the songs were catchy, and they had a good beat, even if they were mostly about trucks, beer, and women in jean shorts. 

You played the album out of order, starting Ryland off a little lighter and then progressively seeing how much he would take. The first song he had no reaction to, you weren’t even sure he’d noticed if you’d switched artists, the second and third song he continued working through, and by the fourth you knew you needed to pull out the lead single. 

You pressed play on the opening track, and watched as Ryland furrowed his brows. He placed his hands down on the counter, abandoning the test tube that had been in his hand in the sink. You saw him look up at the speakers then look over at you. 

“Isn’t this heavily sexualizing women?”

“Huh?” you asked, looking up from your notebook like you hadn’t just been staring at him just a second ago. 

Ryland waved his hands around. “This song and the way he talks about women, I mean I know it’s probably at least a decade old, but isn’t it all a bit misogynistic?”

“Oh,” you said, looking up at the speakers as if you’d just noticed they were playing. “I guess I hadn’t really been listening to the lyrics, I just like the beat,” you lied, knowing that this particular song would set Ryland off. He wasn’t wrong, most country songs were that way when you’d left Earth, but at least they were giving you something to annoy him with. You bit your pen, sensing your opening. “Do you want me to change it?”

Ryland was already turning back towards his vile in the sink. “Nope, was just asking,” he said calmly, but you could see the tightness in his shoulders. You were starting to get to him. 

You pivoted slightly, shifting back to the classics and putting on Margaritaville, and watched as Ryland slumped as if he had gotten hit by a middle school insult. You laughed to yourself at the sight of Ryland putting his head in his hands, very clearly fighting to keep his thoughts to himself. 

You decided to up your game, adding any songs that included anything close to the words honky tonk or used tractor and sexy in the same metaphor. It was at this point that Ryland fully abandoned his work, instead just sitting on his stool, looking completely dumbfounded. Luckily for you, he seemed to be refusing to look up at you, making it much easier to cover the way you were snickering at him. 

With him already down, you decided to go for the kill and you put on Parked Out By The Lake, and waited for Ryland to realize what you’d done. For a moment, he seemed to almost recover what you’d put him through. At first, it seemed to him like the song wasn’t that bad, but by the fourth or fifth line he started to catch on. The song was repeating the same five words over and over again, just in slightly different ways. 

You watched as the usually fidgety man grew more and more still, and you furiously scribbled in your notebook, looking over at your stopwatch every few seconds. Halfway through the song, Ryland finally looked up at you. 

“This is the worst song I have ever heard,” he said, deadpanning.

Your jaw dropped far more dramatically than what was necessary. “Did you just insult my music?”

You managed to hold back your laughter but Ryland’s eyes narrowed on you. The lab suddenly felt hotter than it had a minute ago and you felt yourself flush at his intense eye contact. It felt as though he was looking right through you, like he could see to the very deepest point of your soul, and knew exactly what you were doing. You jerked your head away and slowly inhaled through your nose, willing your face to cool.  

“What?” you asked, praying to any nearby stars that you were keeping your face intact. 

He held a finger up. “Wait a second.”

He stood up from his stool and began to walk through his station. Your breath caught in your throat as he drew closer to you, stopping just at the edge of your table and placing his hands on his hips.

He leaned in towards you. “You’re trying to do this.”

You shrugged, your heart hammering in your chest. “Do what?”

Suddenly Ryland was moving towards you, hands reaching out to grab, and you no longer cared for keeping your little act in play. You didn’t know what he was planning on doing when he caught you, but you weren’t going to stick around to find out. 

You scrambled to somehow move away, scurrying towards Rocky’s station as if he would protect you. Unfortunately, with you out of the way, Ryland reached out and grabbed your notebook instead of grabbing you.  

“Shit,” you muttered under your breath. His eyes flicked down to the notepad and you stood frozen as he silently read the words that would no doubt seal your doomed fate. He looked over the top of his glasses at you as he dropped the paper back on the table and you instinctively took a step back. 

“I was your science experiment?” He asked, and if the look he was giving you wasn’t scaring you then the way that he sounded nearly amused certainly was.

You held your hands up in surrender. “Observation is the sincerest form of flattery?”

Ryland dropped the notebook and took after you. You yelped and jumped over Rocky. “Ryland wahahahait!” you laughed, nervous laughter being pulled from you as you realized he was just behind you. You didn’t even know where you were headed. You were technically going in the direction of the bedroom, though you truthfully had no idea how this was going to help you. 

Your feet pounded across the ship, and you willed your socked feet not to slip against the ground. A bubbly feeling of anxious tension was rising in your stomach, making you feel as though you were already caught despite the fact that you were still running away from him. 

You grabbed a hold of the bedroom door just as Ryland’s arms snaked around your middle. “No!!” you yelled, smacking at his arms, a random assortment of words tumbling out of your lips. “You are the one in violation of the music rules! I should not be the one in trouble here!”

Ryland clucked his tongue. “Oh, you negated your music rule the moment you started using me as a little experiment.” 

Ryan gently threw you onto the small makeshift couch that the three of you had set up for when one of you got too tired to climb down from the lab to the bedroom. You squeaked with surprise as you bounced on top of the plush pillows, surprised with the ease that he tossed you with. 

“Now,” he said, standing over top of you and essentially cornering you in with his body. “What are we going to do with you?” 

You pushed yourself backwards as if you could fade into the wall. “Nothing,” you pleaded, your voice wobbling with uncontained giggles. You weren’t used to seeing him like this and the smarmy way he was looking down at you was making you all too nervous. “You’re gonna let me go.”

Rocky rolled over with a speed that you’d never seen him use outside of dire situations. He pulled at Ryland’s shirt. “𝀌᭴᭵♮᭢᭨᭫᭮” 

“Ohhhhhhh,” Ryland said, and then looked at you with the biggest smirk. You looked between him and Rocky trying to determine what was going on. The translator hadn’t turned on, but Ryland clearly knew what Rocky was saying. You started to feel more nervous laughter bubbling up in your throat. 

 “Will it work on them?” he asked, holding his hand over his mouth as if you couldn’t hear what he was saying. 

Rocky nodded his head. “It worked day before last. Rocky tried just like Grace asked. Friend made big noise. Was very cute. Statement.” 

You frowned, trying to figure out what Rocky was talking about, but coming up blank. The days on the Hail Mary started to blend together at certain points, but this seemed big enough to Rocky that you felt like you should be able to recall it too. Then, all of sudden you remembered when Rocky had accidentally jabbed you in the side as you had just barely been waking up. You had screeched and giggled as he continued digging his claw into your side for a few more moments, your mind not even awake enough to try fighting him. 

Now, however, you were awake and suddenly aware that that moment had been significantly less spontaneous than you’d realized. As you looked up at Ryland leering above you with a smile, you realized that you hadn’t needed to push his buttons to provide yourself with entertainment. He was bored too, and now you’d just given him the perfect excuse to screw with you. 

Ryland already knew you were ticklish, thanks to Rocky the traitor, but you couldn’t just let him win.

 You sprung from your position against the wall, and slipped around Ryland’s legs, attempting to crawl towards the edge of the makeshift couch. Already giggling furiously, you managed to place a steady foot back on the ground before two hands jabbed your sides, just above your hip bones, and your legs involuntarily gave out. 

You fell backwards onto the plush pillows, and looked up to find Ryland who was smiling down at you like he’d just discovered a new star. As you scrambled towards the wall a second time, it started to dawn on you that you might’ve finally found the point that your mild mannered friend turned into a mischievous planner, and your heart started to hammer in your chest.

“No, no,” you said, as Ryland came to sit down beside you. “Hold on, we can talk about this. We’re all very reasonable people.”

“Correct. We’re all scientists, and now I want to run an experiment of my own.”

You swallowed hard, wrapping your arms around your middle and pulling your knees up. This didn’t seem like this could possibly end well for you or your overly sensitive skin. “Which is?”

He cocked his head. “We’re going to see how much of the tickle monster you can take till you apologize.” 

He started to wiggle his fingers towards your stomach and you jolted on instinct. “NO!” you yelled. 

“Ohhh, very interesting, a ticklish stomach it seems.” Ryland turned around. “Rocky, can you keep notes for me since my hands are a little busy right now?”

Rocky chirped and ran to grab your notebook and pen. “Of course. Friend very ticklish. Make very squeaky noise even when fake tickles.”

“Rocky! Be quiet!” you yelled, somehow feeling even warmer. 

“What?” Ryland said, cooing sweetly at you. “Are you feeling too perceived right now?”

“Shut up,” you whined, but then his hands were shooting towards your neck and you screeched without him even touching you. 

“Rocky, can you please add that our test subject seems to somehow get even more sensitive when teased?”

You covered your face with your hands in favor of protecting your middle. “I don’t know how to deal with you like this.”

Ryland laughed. “Like what?”

“Like,” you risked a glance outside of your hands, only to find him looking at you like he was prepared to lovingly destroy you within an inch of your life. “Like that!” you said, unable to find anything else. 

“Oh, can someone dish it out, but they can’t take it?” he asked, raising a brow. 

You frowned at this, sensing that he was very close to feeling like he was winning. “No, I’m just not used to it.” 

“Oh, well I suppose we better test that theory then, huh?” Ryland said, shooting a hand out to your side that you effectively blocked. 

“Uh uh, none of that.” He hooked his arms under your legs, and pulled them out, sending you sprawling across the cushions. 

“No, NO, give them back!” you yelled, trying to scurry back into your curled up position, but Ryland was already climbing on top of your hips, pinning you in place. 

“No.” Ryland gently trailed his hands across your arms, it didn’t tickle, but it was enough to send goosebumps across your skin. “We have to finish my experiment.” 

He leaned in close to you and whispered. “And the tickle monster can’t conclude his hypothesis without some giggles to prove it.” Ryland then began to wiggle his fingers into your neck and you screeched as your shoulders practically came up to your ears. 

“Ryland!” you yelled, squeezing your eyes shut against the horribly ticklish sensation. 

“Nope. Tickle monster needs laughter, not your friend's name.”

Indignation hit you like a ton of bricks despite the fact that your unpinned hands were doing very little to fight him off. “You are NOT the tickle monster. We are too old for this!” 

“Ooh, tickle monster did not like that answer,” Ryland reached down and squeezed your hips and a bright burst of laughter exploded through you. His thumbs found the divot point in the bone, and you threw yourself forward in shock, only to have Ryland gently push you back down. “Are you trying to invalidate my experiment?”

“Fuhuuhhuhuhuck yohohohohu!” you yelled, your body twisting around wildly in an attempt to dislodge that ticklish feeling from your skin. 

“You are so lucky that the tickle monster is here instead of your amazing friend Ryland because he’d probably do this for saying that word,” he said, before grabbing a hold of your wrists and pushing them up to leave your middle unprotected. Before you could process what he was doing or scream, he was bending down to blow a raspberry on your stomach. You screeched as the vibration travelled through you like magic. His scraggly beard was like tiny individual feathers across your sensitive skin and you swore he was moving it around as much as possible. 

He sat back up and swiped his fingers across your tummy. 

“Rocky, please note that our subject is especially susceptible to raspberries, though we’ll have to try it other places to confirm this theory.”

Rocky chirped and you heaved in enough of a breath to speak. “We are NOT doing that.”

Ryland looked down at you, looking as innocent as the devil. “Why not?”

Your jaw dropped at his audacity for even asking you that. “Because, because- YOU are the one who broke the music complaint rule.”

Ryland threw his hands up with a laugh. “You don’t care about the music rule.” 

“You don’t know that,” you breathed out heavily.

Ryland cocked his head. “I have a different hypothesis, do you want to hear it?”

“What?” you said, raising your brows.

He poked your shoulder. “I think you would’ve picked this as your compensation for me breaking the rule.”

You weren’t aware that your face could get any warmer. “I would NOT” 

Ryland leaned back, looking smug. “Okay, then apologize for your experiment and I’ll let you go right now.” 

You glared at him. It wasn’t like you were craving the feeling of his fingers sending that zappy tingly feeling through your nerves, or the playful energy that was currently buzzing around the inside of the Hail Mary, but you simply couldn’t give him the satisfaction of letting him win that easily. “I won’t apologize for being a thorough scientist.”

Ryland twisted around to yell over his shoulder. “Rocky, please note down that its possible our test subject likes being tickled but we need more proof before our conclusion.”

You would’ve pushed him if you still had your hands. “Ryland, stop teasing!” 

“Sorry, I can't help you. Ryland isn’t here, if you need something you’ll have to address the tickle monster,” he said, before clawing his fingers into your armpits. You yelped and kicked, and then descended back into laughter as your skin twitched underneath his careful hands. 

He was nearly methodical in his methods, alternating between softly stroking the skin, spidering his fingernails, and scratching at your hollows. “Subject seems to be more susceptible to lighter softer touches, but we will have to try elsewhere to be sure it isn’t a fluke,” he said, and you heard Rocky chirping behind him before his words started to make sense to you. 

“Try ribs, usually ticklish for humans,” Rocky suggested, and you tried to pull your arms down to no avail. 

“Good idea Rock, I almost forgot about those.”

“Bad idea, no bAD IDEA!” you tried to say, but then Ryland’s hands were softly scritching across your sides again, taking his sweet time in wiggling his fingers across each bone. He alternated between each side, making you lean into one of his hands, only to change which hand was doing the tickling. 

“Grace!” you pleaded, descending into the madness of your giggles. 

“I might listen if you call me by my real name, you know,” he said, letting his hands trail down to your stomach. You nearly shot up out of your skin, but all Ryland had to do was squeeze your sides again, and you went right back down. 

His hands went right back to your stomach and it felt like your nerves and your face was on fire. His hands twitched just above your belly button making your laughter turn deeper as you tried to suck your stomach in to no avail and you squeezed your eyes shut. The sensation ran deep, like the feeling of his hands was spreading hazy warm waves through your body and the laughter was all heading straight to your brain. 

“Switch spohohohohts!” you begged, needing him to be anywhere else other than your stomach. 

“Hey Rock, can you write down that it appears that our test subject would rather deal with what appears to be their worst spot being picked apart than say the word tickle?”

You opened your eyes to gape at him, but promptly wished you hadn’t as he looked down at you in mock sympathy. 

“Yes. Does appear to be stubborn when solution is so obvious. Rocky think friend too flustered to say word.”

“You bohohohohoth SUCK!” you yelled, wishing you could give both of your mischievous crewmates a withering glare, but laughing too much to even be able to speak properly. 

Ryland smiled down at you. “If you want me to switch spots then you’ll have to ask the tickle monster.” 

You were never going to live this down, but you were going to explode if he kept raking his fingers against the soft skin of your middle. “Tihihi- tihihih,” you started, then got too flustered to finish. Ryland squeezed your sides again and you yelped loudly. “Tihihihckle mohohohonster, please!”

“Interesting that you said that and not the words that stop this,” Ryland murmured plenty loud enough for you and Rocky to hear it as his hands fluttered at the sides of your neck once more. 

“Rocky, do you think we have enough information to present our conclusion?” 

“Not enough data. Friend is fine. Must keep going.” 

“Friend is NOT fine,” you yelped, as Ryland accidentally brushed his fingers across the shell of your ear. 

“Your ears are ticklish too?” Ryland all but yelled. 

“Yours are wOHOHOHORSE!” you laugh screeched as he swirled his fingers around your ear and his nails scuttled across your neck. You tried to push your ear into the pillows but that just left the other side exposed, leaving you in a never ending search for a place where Ryland’s tickles could not reach you. 

“Maybe so,” Ryland said, flushing a little red, but smirking too much for your liking. “But I’m not the one screaming.”

“I’m not screa-NO!” you had started to say into a pillow only to have a pair of lips press into the sensitive skin of your neck and blow as hard as possible. You shrieked loudly enough that it would’ve been embarrassing if you were with anyone else, but instead you just happily giggled yourself silly. 

Ryland pulled back and you heaved in air as he gently brushed your hair out of the way. “Anytime you want to admit that you shouldn’t have experimented on Ryland I’m happy to hear it.”

You did your best to glare up at him. “You are so mean!”  

Ryland shrugged and blew another raspberry on your neck, wiggling his face around and pressing that horribly ticklish stubble into your skin. “FINE!” you shrieked. “Ryland, I’m sohohohohry!”

He raised his head from your neck. “And what do you have to say to me?”

You inhaled a breath, willing yourself to be able to say the word again. You opened your mouth to say it right as Ryland bent down again, his lips connected with your neck and a gutteral scream came out instead. The vibrations were toying with your nerves and it broke down any walls you had left. 

“Tickle monster PLEASE! I give!” you yelled, and Ryland pulled back, 

“That’ll work,” he smiled, and you inhaled air like you chugged water on a hot day. 

“You’re evil,” you looked up at him through your eyelashes. “I always thought you were too nice, but underneath those sweaters and kindness is an evil, evil man.”

Rocky scittered towards you. “Ryland not evil. Friend is lying. Had fun. Statement.”

You looked at Rocky in horror but Ryland only laughed and got off of your legs. He curled his hand under your knee and you jolted, but he only moved you around so your back was against his chest, his arms pulling the two of you close. You settled into him easily and Rocky pressed in beside you, tucking into Ryland’s side, “Rocky has a point you know, you never told me to stop.” he whispered in your ear. 

“Shut up,” you hissed, resituating yourself overtop of his legs. 

He laughed good naturedly, but Rocky shifted beside him. “Grace also seems happier now. Less bored.”

At these words Grace actually blushed, and his reaction hit you like a ton of bricks. He had said all of those things about how easily you were teased and yet he was being just as bashful about what had just happened. You smiled, realizing you weren’t the only one who had fun but wouldn’t admit it.  

Rocky made a clicking noise. “We did two tests. What are conclusions? Question?”

You looked up at Ryland as he tilted his head side to side. “Subject is clearly unbearably ticklish-” you tried to reach your hand up to cover Ryland’s mouth, but he only grabbed a hold of your hands and held them to your chest like he was hugging you. 

“The tester had a little bit too much fun tormenting me I think!” you pointed out, and though Ryland’s blush deepened, he pressed on. 

“But between a combination of sheer obstinance and holding a secret enjoyment for the game, was able to hold out for a long time.” You wiggled around, trying to break out of Ryland’s hold but between his strength and your exhaustion you were stuck being forced to listen to his teasing words or come up with your own.

“You had more fun than me,” you said, your voice rising in pitch.

Ryland raised a brow, the look you were sure he’d given dozens of students before. “Is this you admitting you had fun?” 

You let your head slump forward. “Shush-” you groan. 

Ryland laughs and Rocky chirps. 

“You look sleepy,” Ryland coos, looking down at you. 

You nuzzle your head into Ryland’s side. “I’m gonna get you back so bad.”

Ryland begins to stroke your hair, and if it was possible, you can almost feel the heat of his smile on you. “I have no doubts.”

Your eyes began to flutter shut. “Rocky and I are gonna team up and it’ll be over for you.”

As if in response, Rocky curls around you, the warmth of his carapace making you feel so cozy and safe and Ryland murmurs contentedly.  “Mhmm, I’m sure.”

You yawn loudly and curl your fingers into Ryland’s soft sweater. 

“Friend sleep. I watch. We attack Grace later.” 

And, while working together, you haven't been quiet. When you get something right, when there’s a breakthrough, (or when something literally breaks,) it’s always a loud reaction from you. A yell, a laugh, a wince.. But now? Not even a hum.

Ryland noticed immediately. And being stuck here, waiting with you and Rocky to arrive at Erid, he had nothing but time to figure out why.

You were working on something, something that was probably unnecessary and only in creation to keep busy, with Rocky sitting beside you on the floor only being sliiightly annoying.

“Is almost done, question?” He asks, leaning up.

“Not yet, Rocks.” You murmur quietly, not looking down from your work. You love Rocky with all of your being, you really do, but if he asks you one more question you might shove your head through your laptop.

“Friend grumpy grumpy sad. How long since last sleep cycle, question?”

“I just woke up, actually.”

“Is lie. Rocky see friend in science lab all night.” ..Right. You should know better than to try and trick an alien.

“Oh, do you hear that? I think Grace is calling for you. Yeah, definitely, okay, see you later, Rocky...” You ramble off in a low tone, beginning to turn away.

“Grace no call for Rocky,” Rocky replies in a confused trill. “Grace stand in door, statement.”

You flinched, whipping your head around, and of course Ryland was standing there. 

Maybe you hadn’t seen him today, but, it wasn’t exactly.. Okay, maybe it was avoidance. But it wasn’t personal! It’s just that you didn’t feel like.. bothering him? something like that, you guess.

You blink, before holding back a sigh and turn back away. “Stalker, much?” You mumble, starting to type again, even if it just was backspacing whatever junk you just wrote down that didn’t make sense.

“I wouldn’t say stalker.” Ryland hummed casually, moving to walk over and sit in the chair next to you. “Hey, kid. You busy?” And then he smiles, smiles like none of this mattered. You wished you could believe him.

“Mhm.” You just barely reply, barely move until he puts a hand on your shoulder and you don’t know whether to slap it away or lean into it, whether you were allowed to want to do either.

“You’re quiet today. I don’t know if I like it.” He jokes, or at least tries too. When you don’t do so much as crack a smile, he stutters back. “Not that you’re loud..” He chuckles awkwardly. When there was no reply, his face drops a little with a slight huff as he leans his chair closer. “..Something’s up, huh?” But it wasn't so much of a question, he already knew it. 

“Grace and friend sleep now? Rocky watch, question?” Rocky perks up, stepping taller as if he was puffing his chest out. You would’ve smiled if you weren’t so preoccupied.

“Yeah. It’s pretty late, we should get some rest.” Ryland says so softly, and there’s nothing in you to be annoyed at him. “And maybe it’ll help, yeah? Come on.” 

“Maybe after I finish up.” You say bluntly, suppressing the wince of guilt when you saw Rocky sink down back onto his feet.

But Ryland simply raised an eyebrow, like he was used to it all, nodding slowly and crossing his arms over his chest idly. “Right, right.” He dragged on, “What’re you working exactly? Must be important.”

“Important. Life or death.” You nod, trying to look serious. Rocky lets out a series of concerned trills, which you quickly shut down with a wince. “Kidding! Kidding, it’s- joking, Rocky, I was joking.”

“Not funny, statement. Bad bad bad.” Rocky replied, sinking more into his ball. “Rocky forgive.”

“Alright, alright you two.” Ryland chuckled, driving a hand between your shoulders to get you to follow. “Bed, you.”

“No-“ You huff, twisting away to stay seated. “I’m serious. I’m working, I’m.. busy.”

Ryland didn’t bother to suppress the eye roll your words produced, letting out an exaggerated sigh. “Fine. Then we’re talking.” He leans forward, hands in his lap. “What's the matter, hm? You’ve been moping around all day.”

You don’t say anything for a second, squeezing your eyes close as you try and think, maybe try to string out a coherent sentence? That’d be nice.

“..Rocky go sit in sleeping quarters, wait for Grace and Friend.” Rocky said slowly before rolling out the room, because, even for an alien he had a slight bit of social awareness. His friends needed space for a second. ..Even though he’d be able to hear anyways, but, he’s learnt that humans are strange like that.

“..I..” You try to begin, but the words seem to get caught in your throat. “I don’t really..- I don’t want to think about it anymore. Or talk about it, I just want to feel anything else. You know?”

“Then we won’t think about it anymore.” Ryland says in a firm tone. “But you’ve gotta let me in, kid.”

“Fine.” You manage, trying to keep at least most of the sass out of your tone. “Okay. Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, just come here.” He tilts his head with exaggeration and tugs you into his arms. “And don’t do this again, okay? 

Your arms stay limp at your sides for a minute before returning the hug, your head pushing into his shoulder. You drop your weight, letting him carry you just for a second or two, before pulling back. Or, at least attempting too- Ryland had his arms firmly around your middle, resting as far as he could reach around you.

“..Ryland?” You question, trying to look up.

“You know,” He hummed, resting his chin on top of your head in that too-calm voice that always makes you feel slightly nervous. “I think I know a couple ways to help you stop thinking.”

“..What, gonna hold me captive?” You blink, confused. “I mean, there’s not much.. oh.”

You tense up, freezing but not exactly stuttering out threats or excuses. He wasn’t serious right? 

“Oh?” Ryland repeats, and you can hear that stupid grin on his face. “What? It’s not like you’re too old for this, you’re basically a baby.”

You probably had a comeback ready, Ryland knew you worked fast with your words, but all that flew from your head when you felt his hands just barely starting to graze over the backs of your sides. You swallow nothing, pushing away the shaky smile on your face as you roll your shoulders back to cope.

“Whats this?” He almost laughs, leaning back to try and get a glance of your face which you quickly turn away from. “Doesnt tickle? Not even a bit?”

“Mmmh- No.”  You force out, voice strained and high pitched trying to sound at least slightly normal. You didn’t.

“Is that right?..” He chuckled out, voice thick with tease as his hands trailed up your ribs slowly. “Well, then it must be something else then, right?” Ryland stood at the top of your ribs, drumming his fingers against the top bone. “Maybe you’re missing a rib or two. You should really get that checked, you know. In fact- I’ll check for you! I am a doctor, you know, it’ll be my pleasure.”

“You’re not evehen that kind of doctor!” You spit out, a couple giggles slipping between the words.

“Oh, so you think my profession is funny, hm?” He replies, ignoring your point completely, and this is so stupid, but you’re having the most fun you’ve had in a while. “I’ll let it slide this time, I suppose.. We’ll start your exam, it won’t hurt, but it might be just a little ticklish.” 

Before you have a chance to reply, to tell him this is ridiculous, he lightly squeezes up and down both sides of your ribs. You couldn’t hold that in even if you tried, so, you let out a string of childish giggles and roughly pulled back from his tight hold, to no avail.

“Woaaah! Hey now, you gotta atleast try and stay still! How else am I meant to finish? Maybe I should start again…” He shakes his head with a tut.

“Noho-! Okay okay! Ohohokay-“ You giggle softly into his shoulder, toning down the immediate thrashing and fighting for your life to light squirming. Hard, but, you’ve had to do worse.

“Theeere we go. See? You got it, just like that.” His hands end up at your sides, skittering his fingers quickly before dragging his hands in a claw shape back up to the top of your ribs. “Alright, you ready? ‘Course you are. One.. Two.. Three.. Five, Eight, Twelve- Yep, you’re missing a couple all right! Silly thing, you should’ve come in sooner!”

“that ihis- nohot how yohou count!” You yell out, before falling back into the familiar fit of giggles as his hands drop down to idly scratch and squeeze at your hips.

“Ooohh, someone’s giggly.” Ryland cuts you off, head ducking to whisper into your ear. “You sure you aren’t feeling just a little ticklish?”

You grin and duck your ear away, shaking your head. “You’re sohoho stuhupid.”

“And you’re sohoho adorable, you know that?” He mocks you just a little, which you’ll tell him off for later, one hand keeping itself firmly around your middle as the other hand comes up to scribble the back of your neck and upper back. “The cutest.” And, fuck, you feel like you’re going to pass out with all the attention. 

“I like this spot, don’t you?” He comments idly, hand trailing up and down your spine now. “It makes you get aaallll squirmy. Isn’t it fun?”

“I’m-“ You cut yourself off with a short whine, knees almost giving out between giggles and squirms. “Rylahand I cahant-“

“Hmmm.. Alright. I’ll let you go...” He hummed, hands slowly sliding down to rest at your sides again. “..On one condition.” -And you almost groan out loud instead of in your head as usual.

“You promise me that you’ll come to me when you feel like this again.” He says simply in a light tone of voice. He holds you upright as you catch your breath, leftover laughter still escaping. 

Well.. Could you promise that? You mean- Promises are promises, and, most likely, this would happen again. Apparently, you’re taking too long to think, and you realise that when Ryland's grabbing at your sides again. 

“I said,” He chuckles along with you, probably finding this as dumb as you are. He pulls you tighter, squeezing with every word. “You’ll. Come. To. Me.”

You squirm back with a squeal, ducking your head and nodding. “Okay! Ohokay, whatever, yes!”

“Good.” Ryland grins, obviously proud as he lets go. You stumble back into the wall, catching your breath and running a hand over your face as if you could just wipe the stupid smile left on your face.

“Alllright,” Ryland yawns, as if he didn’t just tickle you to pieces, stretching his arms up. “Time for bed. Come on, I bet Rocky will have loooots of questions about what was so funny.”